Florida Tech President Dr. Anthony Catanese and his wife, Sara, attend the President's Ball in 2009 to celebrate the conclusion of the capital campaign to raise $60 million.

Written by

Maria Sonnenberg
| For FLORIDA TODAY

From his perch high up in the heavens that he helped to explore, Dr. Jerome Keuper must gaze in constant amazement at the university he created 55 years ago with a wing and a prayer ... and 37 cents.

In 1958, as a young physicist drawn to the opportunities in the space program sprouting among the palmetto scrub of Cape Canaveral, Keuper decided to launch a school to enhance the careers of engineers lured to the area with the enticement of "swamp pay." The first contribution for this new academic endeavor was 37 cents from a friend's pocket change.